The Amazing William

Every time I spend time around Will, I learn something new about him. Will, and my friend Rob, are two of the funniest humans alive. Their sense of humor is different, but genius just the same. And on that point, I have always believed that to be funny, a person also has to be very smart. Will and Rob both have boatloads of smarts. Spend five minutes talking to either of these guys and their intellegence is really apparent.

Rob and I went to different high schools that were a few miles apart. Even though we didn't meet until a year after graduation, our formitive years in North Dallas were similar. We both liked new wave music when nobody else did, stuck to ourselves, had a limited circle of friends and endured public school like it was some kind of war for our souls.

I get the impression that Will's public school experience in Wichita Falls was totally different. Like Rob and I, Will was a music junkie to the point of obsession. But Will was an athlete and a college recruited baseball player. The baseball players at my high school were all popular. But I'm sure Will was popular for reasons complete separate from his athletic ability. He loves funny thrift store clothes and sported that look in high school, not giving a shit what anybody thought. That would have brought on heaps of ridicule at my high school. But I'm sure Will disarmed just about anybody who ran across him in high school, including teachers. The guy is true to himself.

So last weekend while visiting Will and his friends, somehow the topic of honors classes came up. I was in a grand total of one honors class ---- English, arguably the easiest of them all. I'm average in science and a complete idiot in math. Had I attempted to enter either of those arenas in an honors capacity, I would have been slaughtered. I sort of envied the kids who could handle the full load. Most of them were dorks like me, but had brains that packed a punch. So Will says: "Yeah. All my classes were honors."

First I thought he was joking, which Will does all of the time. I can't imagine Will sitting in a classes with a bunch of eggheads. It just doesn't seem like his scene. But after five seconds of contemplation, it made total sense. Will makes every scene his own. I'm sure he stepped out of center field, put on a ridiculous Willie Nelson t-shirt and ran mental circles around Wichita Fall's eggheads. The man is a true iconoclast. And he still is today. Wear that "Math Masters" thrift store shirt proudly my friend.